This invention relates in general to a method for sanitizing food products and more particularly to a method wherein ozone containing bubbles are used to sanitize food products which are capable of being immersed in a liquid bath.
It has become increasingly important in the food industry that products provided to the public be quite sanitary. A health conscious and knowledgeable public demands that the food products which are made available be of highest quality. Such products must be safe and free from the effects of disease causing bacteria or harmful chemicals. Tight sanitary standards are not only demanded by the public, but are also required by governmental health and safety regulations. Thus, food processors are ever seeking safe, economical, and efficient methods which help them meet rigid public imposed standards and government regulations.
Bacteria of some kind or another can be found on virtually every object in our environment. Bacteria are present on most living organisms, such as poultry, cattle and swine and are also found on other food products such as fruits and vegetables. While many bacteria are beneficial to both man and the environment, others are harmful, especially those that are capable of causing sickness or disease in man.
Some of the more pathogenic bacteria are those classified as Enterobacteriaceae and include such organisms as Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp and Enterobacter spp. These types of bacteria are normally found within the intestinal flora of mammals and are considered responsible for such intestinal infections as bacterial dysentery and bacterial food poisoning. While efforts are made to control the existence of these types of bacteria in foods and in food processing facilities, large scale food preparation operations often provide favorable environments for the growth of these organisms.
A number of steps have been taken in the food industry in an effort to solve the bacterial problem. Attempts have been made to sanitize food products by processes involving heat, ultraviolet irradiation or chemicals. While each of these methods show some efficacy under certain conditions, there are many situations where these methods are inapplicable, inefficient or perhaps undesirable for particular food products.
A primary disadvantage of utilizing any of the aforementioned sanitizing methods is that such methods often lead to a change in the appearance or taste of the food product that makes the product undesirable to the consumer. Furthermore, some chemical methods are undesirable because they pose potential toxicity problems because of the particular chemical which may be required in the sanitizing process.
Ozone dissolved in an aqueous medium has been shown to have some efficacy in sanitizing food products. However, all dissolved ozone sanitizing processes in use today, as far as applicant is aware, have not proven to be entirely satisfactory. They have not adequately or consistently solved the problem of bacteria on the surfaces of food products. Applicant has discovered a method whereby the sanitizing effects of ozone on food products can be substantially enhanced without adversely affecting the products.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a method for sanitizing food products that utilizes ozone but which safely, efficiently and effectively eliminates surface borne bacteria on food products.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for sanitizing food products that utilizes applicant's discovery that a plurality of ozone-air bubbles introduced into an aqueous medium in a manner creating a continuous flow of such bubbles in the medium greatly increases the bacteria killing effect of the ozone when the bubbles contact the surfaces of the food products.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for eliminating surface borne bacteria on food products by causing the food products to be moved through a liquid bath having a plurality of ozone-air bubbles streaming upwardly through the liquid medium such that the surfaces of the food products are in continuous and direct contact with a plurality of the ozone-air bubbles while immersed in the bath.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a method for sanitizing food products which is safe and efficient and which does not cause physical or cosmetic damage to the product.
It is also an aim of the present invention to provide a method for effectively and efficiently sanitizing food products but which eliminates the need to ozonate the liquid in the liquid bath prior to the introduction of the ozone-air bubbles in the bath. Other and further objects and aims of the invention will be made clear or become apparent from the following description and claims.